Ohio State Route 2

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State Route 2 (SR 2), formerly known as Inter-county Highway 2 until 1921 and State Highway 2 in 1922, is an east–west highway crossing most of northern Ohio. Its western terminus is at the Indiana state line near Hicksville where the route becomes Indiana State Road 37 which continues to Fort Wayne, Indiana. The eastern terminus of the route is in Painesville Township in Lake County at U.S. Route 20 (US 20).

Route description

File:Western terminus of Ohio State Route 2.png

Western terminus of SR 2

File:SR 2 eastern terminus 2022.png

Eastern terminus of SR 2

It passes through Bryan, Wauseon (where it briefly becomes a couplet), and enters greater Toledo west of its interchange with the Ohio Turnpike. It continues east from greater Toledo and soon parallels Lake Erie, becoming a freeway near Port Clinton. From Oregon to Sandusky SR 2 is part of of the highway designated the "Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail". and on September 22, 2005, was designated a National Scenic Byway. From Toledo to Sandusky the highway is also part of and designated the Lake Erie Circle Tour that is also part of the "Great Lakes Circle Tour". It then passes Sandusky, where it meets U.S. Route 250 (US 250) and US 6, and separates from the lakeshore as a freeway, and traverses rural Erie County before entering Lorain County. Near Elyria, it joins Interstate 90 (I-90), whose route it shares to Rocky River, where it follows SR 254 along Detroit Road into Lakewood. Here it again joins US 6, as well as US 20 on Clifton Boulevard. It then becomes part of the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway in Cleveland, joining I-90 again near Burke Lakefront Airport. These two highways split near Euclid, and SR 2 continues along the Lakeland Freeway to Painesville, feeding into US 20 eastbound. SR 2 serves as an access route to lakeshore attractions on Lake Erie from Toledo and Cleveland and as an alternative to the Ohio Turnpike.

The stretch of SR 2 from Toledo to Sandusky passes several attractions. The Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is just east of SR 19 in Carroll Township. It sits on along with the Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station.

SR 2 is the lowest numbered state route in Ohio. SR 1 was decommissioned in 1965.

Naming

The section of SR 2 that runs through Erie County is called the "Jackie Mayer Miss America Highway" and is named for Jackie Mayer, a former Miss America who was born and raised in Sandusky.

The section of SR 2 that runs through Willoughby is named "Brian Montgomery Memorial Highway" in honor of a Marine Lance Corporal who was killed in the Iraq War in August 2005.

History

Established in 1912 as Intercounty Highway 2, the route initially connected Cleveland to the Pennsylvania state line.

By 1923, it extended westward, aligning with what is now US 6 from the Indiana border to Bryan, and following current SR 51 and US 20 from Toledo to Pennsylvania.

Between 1926 and 1927, SR 2 was rerouted from Toledo to Cleveland, utilizing the former SR 23 alignment to Port Clinton, an unnumbered stretch to west of Sandusky, and the previous SR 12 into Cleveland. Concurrently, the segment from Cleveland to Pennsylvania was designated as US 20.

In 1931, the route extended east to Willoughby via St. Clair Avenue. However, by 1932, its western terminus was shortened to Bryan, with the segment from Bryan to the Indiana state line reclassified as US 6.

In 1936, the route was extended to the Indiana state line via the former SR 108 alignment from Hicksville to Bryan, and the former SR 18 alignment from the Indiana state line to Hicksville, with which it was dually certified along this route until 1940.

In 1939 SR 18 alignment was removed from SR 2 alignment west of Hicksville. Additionally, the route extended east to Lost Nation Road in Willoughby. Two years later, in 1941 SR 2 from West 6th to East 9th moved from Lakeside Avenue to the Lakefront Highway, later called the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway. Lakeside certified as SR 2 temporarily.

In 1962 the route was extended east to SR 283 in Painesville; Euclid-to-Painesville alignment upgraded to freeway.

In 1967 the portion of the route from west of Sandusky to west of Sandusky was upgraded to freeway, and rerouted on the bypass around Sandusky on former US&n6 alignment. Additionally, the route was extended to its current eastern terminus at US 20 in Painesville Township. A year later in 1968, the portion of the route from SR 163 to west of Sandusky upgraded to freeway.

In 1970 the portion of the route from west of Amherst to SR 83 (SR 76 at that time) upgraded to freeway; from east of Amherst to SR 83 dually certified with I-90.

From 1973 to 1975, OH 2 Alt. was deleted as discontinuous sections of SR 2 are moved from US 6 to I-90.

In 1976, the portion of the route from Ceylon to west of Amherst upgraded to freeway. And in 1977, the portion from SR 83 to Rocky River was upgraded to freeway and dually certified with I-90.

On August 30, 1990, the portion from Huron to Ceylon was upgraded to freeway.

Auxiliary routes

SR 2 Temporary

• State Route 2 temporary was a designation that ran from West 6th to East 9th along Lakeside Avenue in downtown Cleveland. The designation was added when the final alignments of SR 2 were moved to the then new Lakeside Highway, later referred to as the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway. The route's eastern terminus was moved to Public Square via Ontario St. in 1957.

SR 2C

• State Route 2C is an unsigned connecting road that runs from State Route 163 to State Route 2 and State Route 53 near Port Clinton in Ottawa County, Ohio. State Route 2C was constructed as an access road for the SR 2–SR 163 interchange.

SR 2D

• State Route 2D is part of a couplet in Wauseon, Ohio that is signed as State Route 2. SR 2D is signed as SR 2 westbound, while SR 2D is signed as SR 2 eastbound, (except west of East Elm Street, where SR 2D meets SR 2 at its western terminus). The route ends at the corner of East Linfoot Street and North Shoop Avenue.

Cultural references

In the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway is used to depict a freeway in Washington, D.C.

Gallery

• Lakeland Freeway in Mentor
  Lakeland Freeway in Mentor
• Wide variant of State Route 2 signage at US 6 in Bryan
  Wide variant of State Route 2 signage at US 6 in Bryan
• SR 2 in Bryan
  SR 2 in Bryan
• SR 2 in Farmer
  SR 2 in Farmer
• US 20A / SR 2 in Delta
  US 20A / SR 2 in Delta
• US 20A / SR 2 along the North Star BlueScope Steel mill located southwest of Delta
  US 20A / SR 2 along the North Star BlueScope Steel mill located southwest of Delta
• US 127 / SR 2 / SR 15 in Bryan
  US 127 / SR 2 / SR 15 in Bryan
• Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station viewed from Ohio State Route 2
  Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station viewed from Ohio State Route 2
• Cleveland Memorial Shoreway in 2013
  Cleveland Memorial Shoreway in 2013
• Cleveland Memorial Shoreway in 1973 (Former parking lot exit pictured)
  Cleveland Memorial Shoreway in 1973 (Former parking lot exit pictured)
• Abandoned stretch of SR 2 in Gordon Park
  Abandoned stretch of SR 2 in Gordon Park
• Edgewater Park overpass in Cleveland
  Edgewater Park overpass in Cleveland

External links

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